Flint water crisis reveals limits of running a state as a business
Michigan鈥檚 governor did something highly unusual Tuesday night: He apologized to a city.
鈥淚鈥檓 sorry and I will fix it,鈥� GOP Gov. Rick Snyder told the people of Flint in his State of the State address. 鈥淕overnment failed you at the federal, state and local level.鈥�
Governor Snyder spent much of his address taking on the water crisis in Flint, where have been exposed to lead after the city, in a cost-saving measure, began pumping its supply from the Flint River in 2014. The corrosive water caused lead to leach out of pipes. Although the city switched back to sourcing its drinking water from Lake Huron in October, the water remains unsafe to drink.
In his speech, the governor, who has long billed himself as taking a pragmatic, business-like approach to challenges in his state, laid out a plan to fix the problem 鈥� even as outside the Michigan Legislature in Lansing.
The crisis, however, reverberates beyond Michigan and heralds more than just trouble for Snyder鈥檚 political career, some say.
Indeed, the situation in Flint 鈥� coupled with Michigan鈥檚 other financial woes 鈥� points to deeper issues tied to the way governments run states, particularly in times of financial distress, political experts say. And in Michigan 鈥� where rocky relations between a GOP-controlled state and often Democratic local agencies compound tensions between the governor鈥檚 office and the more hard-line Legislature 鈥� such issues are thrown into sharp relief, they add.
The water crisis underscores the limitations of an entrepreneurial method of governance in a way that could resonate beyond Michigan, says Thad Kousser, a political science professor at the University of California in San Diego.
鈥淲hat this crisis points out is one of the limits in running a government as a business,鈥� says Professor Kousser, whose research focuses on state politics. He notes that since the Great Recession, other states have attempted to apply business principles in an effort to avoid tax hikes: In 2009, then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put forward a contested proposal to erase a $24 million budget deficit.
Arizona lawmakers, too, 鈥� along with a slew of other state properties 鈥� in a desperate push to balance its 2010 budget.
In Flint鈥檚 case, Kousser says, the problem stemmed from what appears to have been a trade-off between cost-cutting measures and public health.
鈥淭he private marketplace works because of competition, but governments often have monopoly,鈥� he notes. 鈥淲hen Volkswagen screws up, you can buy a Ford. But when lead starts coming out of your tap, you can鈥檛 just turn on another tap.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it proves a general point that governments can鈥檛 be run like a business,鈥� Kousser adds. 鈥淏ut it shows some of the things you risk when you do.鈥�
The business of governance
Flint is a once-thriving Michigan city whose growth paralleled that of the auto industry. After General Motors closed or relocated its plants in the 1980s and 鈥�90s, both the city鈥檚 population and economic prospects declined. Today, roughly 99,000 people call Flint home, with 40 percent of the population living below the poverty level.
In recent years, the city鈥檚 debt spiraled, leading the state to declare a financial emergency. Since 2011, Snyder has appointed five emergency managers to grapple with the city鈥檚 finances.
The decision to switch the water to the Flint River came during the tenure of emergency manager Darnell Earley. After months of Flint residents being told the water was safe by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, a Virginia Tech professor鈥檚 research uncovered elevated levels of lead in the water last fall. On Saturday, a Flint Journal Freedom of Information Act request uncovered a possible link between Flint鈥檚 water and an outbreak of Legionnaire鈥檚 disease that killed 10 people.
Federal and state investigations have been launched into the water crisis and donations of bottled water are pouring into the Great Lakes city from everyone from Cher to churches and mosques to ex-convicts. President Obama signed a federal emergency declaration last week, freeing $5 million to help the city, and announced this week that he is appointing a water czar for Flint.
鈥淭he Flint water crisis happened because of a series of very bad decisions taken because of a toxic political climate,鈥� writes Jenna Bednar, a research professor at the Center for Political Studies at the University of Michigan鈥檚 Institute for Social Research in Ann Arbor, in an e-mail to the Monitor. 鈥淪nyder鈥檚 business-like approach [to governance] values the bottom line. The bottom line here is that responsibility for creating that toxic decision-making environment belongs with the Legislature as well as with the governor.鈥�
Snyder, a Republican, is a former tax accountant and venture capitalist who in 2010 campaigned on the promise that he would use business principles to pull Michigan out of financial difficulty. The approach has seen some successes, most notably the 2014 deal that helped haul Detroit out of the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in US history.
But Snyder鈥檚 strategy also has run into potholes, Michigan political experts say. In trying to rebuild the state鈥檚 infamous roads, for instance, Snyder pushed to raise funds for repairs in a bid that pitted him against more ideologically conservative legislators, who wanted to address the issue without raising taxes. The in 2012 was a convoluted piece of legislation that lost 鈥渂y the largest margin in recent history,鈥� Dr. Bednar wrote.
鈥淕ood businesses plan beyond the next quarterly report,鈥� she writes. 鈥淪nyder tried with mixed success to create support for long-range investments for Michigan.鈥�
Reassessing state-local relations
Both the governor and the Legislature now appear united in a desire to help tackle Flint鈥檚 water crisis.
Indeed, the Republican head of the House Appropriations Committee that he expects full support for Snyder鈥檚 request for $28.5 million to cover immediate needs in Flint, including the cost of filters, bottled water, and additional troops from the Michigan National Guard.
Some political observers urge a closer examination of the top-down approach to governance that the state imposes on municipalities 鈥� especially those in financial trouble.
鈥淭he complexities here have more to do with the general state-local relationship,鈥� says Matt Grossmann, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and an associate professor of political science at Michigan State University in Lansing. 鈥淭he decisions were made at times when Flint was being managed by [state-appointed] emergency managers. A review of that policy and its implementation here is warranted.鈥�
, the state can appoint an emergency financial manager to a municipality in financial crisis. The manager, tasked to take charge of the city鈥檚 finances, is accountable to the governor and the legislature. 聽
But following the Flint crisis, advocates and residents have called the policy into question, noting that the dubious decision to switch the water supply from Detroit to the Flint River was done under emergency manager Darnell Earley.
To some, the decision reveals a lack of understanding, on the state鈥檚 part, of the value of engaging communities during times of crisis 鈥� a mistake that they see the state already repeating in Detroit, where Mr. Earley is now in charge of reforms to the beleaguered Detroit Public School system.
On Wednesday, 88 Detroit schools were closed as a result of a teacher sickout. Organizers say the sickouts, which have been ongoing this month, are designed to draw attention to the dire state of some buildings 鈥� problems include buckling floors, mold, mildew, and a lack of heat in some classrooms.
鈥淲e need a better approach to state and local relations in general,鈥� says Eric Scorsone, associate professor and founding director of the Michigan State University (MSU) Extension Center for State and Local Government Policy. 鈥淐ommunities are where the hard work happens, where quality of life is created or destroyed. The state needs to take a more proactive approach鈥� in reaching out to municipalities.
鈥淲e need to have a serious assessment of our governmental operations,鈥� he adds.
Some states, such as New Jersey and Pennsylvania, have developed policies that could serve as models for state-local cooperation, Dr. Scorsone notes, citing an August 2015 on state takeovers during times of financial crisis. Those vary, but all stress working in a greater spirit of collaboration.
In some ways, 鈥淢ichigan's economic and demographic difficulties make public policy choices more difficult and make errors more calamitous,鈥� writes Dr. Grossmann in a follow-up e-mail to the Monitor.
But making a point to understand and respond to the specific needs of residents in ways that foster cooperation is a principle that all states can apply, Scorsone notes.
鈥淲e need to remember that government is not a business. It鈥檚 supposed to be there to protect health, safety, and welfare of the people,鈥� he says. 鈥淭his may be a good wake-up call.鈥澛�
